Heady-Hardy Funeral Home

The idea of a bunch of self-satisfied music-industry fat cats in tuxedos having rock stars assemble for a command performance in the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom once a year is precisely the sort of thing rock was created to be the antidote to. There is nothing less rock and roll than a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That said, it does exist. The question is, how well has the hall functioned? Has it done its job well, within its ridiculous premise? What follows is a list of all of the regular inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, listed in order from best to worst. Along the way we’ll look at the hall’s origins and how it has evolved, with comments from members of the selection committees past and present. (HBO is showing the ceremony Saturday night, May 5, starting at 8 p.m. ET; according to HBO’s website, you can watch it an hour earlier on HBO Go and HBO Now.) The rankings are made on the basis of the appropriateness of each artist’s induction, not their baseline quality or my personal fondness for the artists in question. In other words, was the act influential? Were they the first? Are they simply brilliant at whatever it is they do? Those to me are considerations that make for a hall of fame band. (There are a few bands I personally like a lot on the bottom half of the list.) I have one further criterion, too: Was their career worthy of being in a hall of fame? There are some acts, a few fairly influential, whom I’ve downgraded, basically for being dinks. You may disagree, but it’s my list. And, yeah, I know there aren’t enough women — the hall nominating committee is overwhelmingly men and always has been. That said, for the most part they’ve reached out to find worthy female acts. The hall’s own stated standard goes like this: “Besides demonstrating unquestionable musical excellence and talent, inductees will...

PRP principal Kim Salyer said Williams was a coach, leader and mentor who “every day would stay after school.” “Those kids loved her and respected her and worked very hard for her,” Salyer said. “She treated our students like they were her family. … She was a wonderful person who loved PRP more than anybody I know.” Salyer said PRP faculty and students were devastated Wednesday after hearing the news that Williams had died from complications while giving birth to twin girls. Related: PRP High School teacher who died will be honored during Friday's football game Williams, 33, was a 2002 PRP graduate who had taught at the school since 2008. Her husband, Tommy, is the first-year head coach of the school’s football team. Salyer said Amanda Williams also had served as a volleyball and cheerleading coach who often organized homecoming activities and pep rallies. PRP athletic director Nick Waddell said she played a vital role as an academic counselor for athletes. “She tracked them year-round, and if she saw them slipping she would call them down and tutor them after school,” Waddell said. “If a kid needed a couple of extra points on their ACT, she’d arrange ACT training. She brought in guest speakers and motivational speakers. … “She was kind of the backbone for everything we did at PRP.” Waddell described Williams as “the nicest person and always laughing.” “She was a joy to talk to,” Waddell said. “I told Tommy that I felt like I lost my best friend. I can’t imagine how he feels right now. She was just a friend to everybody and a fantastic person. … She was opinionated,...

It is almost starting to seem that James Bond isn't messed up enough for him. The Brit hard man is about to appear as the lead in a Marvel superhero movie, but will be playing Eddie Brock in Venom, who is taken over by an evil alien symbiote.In the past he hasn't just played gangsters, he played the most tormented of souls from the Kray twins to Charles Bronson.He will complete his hat trick of gangster biopics by tackling the most legendary one of all – but by examining the tragic and terrible fall of Al Capone, not his heady days as Chicago's king pin.It is a story of imprisonment, humiliation, mental decline and chronic syphilis.True to form, Hardy announced the news with a single black and white image on his Instagram page and an enigmatic tagline.With his face wreathed in cigar smoke, Hardy's post simply says: "Time for Al Cap."The actor has long harboured hopes of playing the crime lord and is about to start shooting the Josh Trank project, Fonzo, at last. The project was previously reported in Deadline as: "Fonzo, a new project written and to be directed by Josh Trank... which centres on Capone in the final days of his life."And they were truly terrible and pitiful final days, indeed.Al Capone may be one of the most terrifying figures in modern history, but his fall was swift and absolute.When he arrived at Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary in May 1932, aged 33, he was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhoea, as well as suffering from withdrawal symptoms from cocaine addiction, which had perforated his septum.Seen as weak, he was heavily bullied and threatened and needed protection. Capone was also stabbed in prison in 1936. Over the years in prison his neurosyphilis eroded his mental faculties and he became confused and disoriented. Thing would only get worse from there.When he was released in 1939 the syphilis had caused partial paralysis and dementia. Examined by his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist in 1946, he was found to have the mentality capac...